The Director General Media and Publicity to the Kogi State Governor, Kingsley Fanwo has insisted that no amount of resistance will be enough to cow the State Governor into rescinding his determination to dig into the past, saying it will be a disservice to the people of Kogi State if questions are not asked about how our commonwealth was managed in the period under review.

Fanwo stated this while addressing pressmen at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja. He said the Commission of Inquiry is aimed at achieving the goal of digging into the past to appreciate the rationale behind the rot of infrastructure in the State and to send signals to the present and future administrations that they will be made to give accounts after their tenures.

According to the Governor’s spokesman, the panel was not aimed at witch-hunting anybody, but to set the record straight, “in keeping up with the anti-corruption drive of the present administration”, saying those who have rushed to court to “stop us from asking questions are giving a strong impression that they are hiding a lot”.

He said: “Governor Yahaya Bello is a man of justice and he will ensure no one is witch-hunted. The panel is independent of any influence from any quarters and the Governor has great confidence in the panel to ensure justice and fairness guide its operations.

“Let me place on record that no amount of sponsored media fallacies, intimidation and arm-twisting can suppress the will of the Governor to ask questions about how the resources of the State were managed in the past. People who have nothing to hide would not rush to the court to stop a legitimate process.

“As a Governor with undeniable respect for the rule of law and constitutionalism, the Governor will continue to lean on the guarantee of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Nobody has accused them of stealing but they have shown they don’t want to be accountable.

“The resources they administered belongs to the good people of Kogi State and the people deserves to know how their taxes were expended.”

The Director General said the Governor has shown great example of transparency and accountability since assuming office, insisting that Kogi State would have been better if this level of probity was employed by the previous administrations in the State.

“Today, Kogi State has one of the best public accountability system in the country. The administration of Alh Yahaya Bello has made extra-budgetary spending a taboo in the State and the Public Procurement Act is at full swing of practice. We have published our accounts, what the administration got and how we have dispensed the funds. The Governor went ahead to publish the balances of the bailout fund and the accounts where they are kept. The Governor is incorruptible and that is why he has the moral justification to probe into the past because he has nothing to hide.”

On the rumour of the Governor’s death abroad, Fanwo said the appearance of the Governor has “destroyed the rumour and the credibility of the promoters who were paying papers to peddle blatant falsehood on their front-pages”, saying the Governor cannot be distracted by such rumour.

“The task before the Governor is enormous. He met an unpardonable infrastructural deficit, tetra-deficient healthcare system, an education on life support and a completely destroyed rural life. He has started making the difference with ongoing projects scattered around the State. His New Direction Agenda is already driving unprecedented transformation in the State to the consternation of detractors who cannot stop peddling their falsehood.”

He said the Staff Verification Exercise will soon wind up and the issue of salaries delay will be a thing of the past, insisting that the panel is working round the clock to meet the Governor’s deadline to enable the State Government regularize salary payment and ameliorate the hardship experienced by the workers.

According to the image maker, the Governor is concerned about the welfare of the people and especially, the civil servants.

Fanwo said the Governor’s trip abroad was aimed at giving him a two-week break but the restless determination to move the State forward drove him to woo investors into the agricultural sector of the State as well as cottage industries and energy. He said the people of the State will soon begin to benefit from the trip.